Spillane pegs back Germany

Republic of Ireland 1-1 Germany
Germany were held to a 1-1 draw at Turners Cross in Cork in their first friendly of the year. Sandro Wagner put Horst Hrubesch's side in front in the 22nd minute only for Michael Spillane to restore parity four minutes later.

Höwedes injured
Jerome Boateng started in central defence for Germany after Benedikt Höwedes was forced to pull out injured shortly before kick-off, and the visiting side's defence was soon put under pressure as the Republic made much of the early running.

Wagner strikes
It was Germany, however, who came closest to breaking the deadlock in the sixth minute when Änis Ben-Hatira almost caught Ireland goalkeeper Shane Redmond out with a lob only for the ball to narrowly miss the target. Germany were beginning to get the upper hand when Shane Lowry flashed a header wide after 21 minutes and moments after that they took the lead in fortuitous fashion, Wagner somehow squeezing the ball passed Redmond from a tight angle. 

Spillane equaliser
It did not take the home side long to respond, Spillane heading in on 26 minutes after a corner had only partially been cleared. In a bright opening period both sides had further chances to take the lead with Ben-Hatira twice and Fabian Johnson both hitting the woodwork for Germany. The tempo dropped after the restart with Germany's best chance coming on 50 minutes when Daniel Halfar's shot was cleared off the line.  Germany have been drawn in Group B of the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship where they will meet England, Spain and Finland.

Republic of Ireland: Redmond (Henderson, 46); Moloney, Spillane, Lowry, Liddle; Gleeson, Meyler, Garvan, Judge; Sheridan, Scannell (Carey, 86).

Germany: Neuer; Schwaab, Jaissle (Adlung, 46), J Boateng, Aogo; Ebert, KP Boateng (Hennings, 46), Khedira (Johnson, 30), Ben-Hatira (Grote, 86); Wagner, Halfar (Heller, 80).